Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA, explains that generating awareness about the IT industry starts at home, extends to the classroom, and carries over to pre-professional settings. Here are some important steps parents, teachers and industry leaders can take to encourage girls to pursue tech careers.

It’s no secret that there’s a gender gap in the IT industry. What’s less understood are the drivers behind that divide – and what can be done to close it.

CompTIA’s “Make Tech Her Story” project aimed to answer these questions. The research campaign involved taking the conversation about women in tech directly to girls and boys in middle and high school. Through these dialogues, a key finding emerged: Of the girls who said they hadn’t considered an IT career, more than two-thirds said it was because they didn’t know what an IT job involved. It’s not disinterest keeping girls from IT careers; it’s a lack of awareness about the opportunities available to them.

Here's what parents, teachers and industry leaders can do to help:

Parents: As a parent, you don’t need a tech job to give your daughter exposure to the field. Instead, focus on providing her with resources that reveal IT career opportunities.

Teachers: Too often, tech classes in middle and high school focus on activities only nominally related to IT, such as designing the school newspaper or editing with iMovie. By strategizing ways to offer tech classes more directly tied to IT – like an introduction to programming – teachers can drive interest in tech roles.

Industry leaders: IT workers are uniquely qualified to inspire girls in tech by providing them with an on-the-ground look at what an IT career looks like. Tech experts can best offer this guidance by volunteering to teach workshops – such as those offered by TechGirlz – that reveal the possibilities of a tech career.

By taking proactive steps to promote IT awareness, parents, teachers and industry leaders can play a key role in closing the tech career gender gap.